After our post yesterday on the 17-year emergence of periodical cicadas, here is a fantastic body of work on one of nature’s most intriguing creatures 
by Samuel Orr. A natural history filmmaker and time-lapse photographer he has been following and filming the various broods of periodical cicadas since 2007 (multiple broods that come out in different years across the eastern part of the United States). After filming some 200 hours of footage, and he is now working towards an hour documentary that focuses on the 17-year periodical cicadas for which he just started a Kickstarter campaign. Continue reading
Insects
Best of Salim E.I.: Signature Spider (Argiope anasuja)
Signature Spiders are commonly found in India, especially the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Their name comes from their distinctive zig-zag patterned X in the center of their webs.
Mud-Puddling – Common Crow Butterflies
Common Crows
Males of many butterfly species assemble on spots of ground contaminated with animal urine or excreta or even some food plants. The butterflies absorb essential elements such as sodium that have been lost during the mating process. Continue reading
Natalie Angier Strikes Again
We used the terminology natural born killers too soon. Apparently these unassuming creatures are the real efficient ones. And, like cats, disguised as gracefully admirable, and often unnoticed. In today’s New York Times Science section there is a story by one of our favorite science writers:
Science Times: April 2, 2013
New research suggests that dragonflies may well be the most brutally effective hunters in the animal kingdom. Continue reading
Painted Sawtooth Butterfly – Prioneris sita
Photo credit: Ramesh Kidangoor
The Painted Sawtooth is a rare butterfly seen in Kerala’s forest settings only during January – April. The males fly extremely fast and have reddish orange spots on the back side of their wings.
Plain Tiger Butterfly- Danaus chrysippus
Plain Tiger Butterflies are commonly seen throughout the year in the grass lands and open forest areas of Kerala. Their wings are reddish yellow with white spots on the upper side. Continue reading
Fulvous Pied Flat Butterfly – Pseudocoladenia dan
Fulvous Pied Flat Butterflies are found inside deep forest habitats. Both genders are reddish brown in colour but the male has two large yellow hyaline spots on the upper wings. Continue reading
Indian Owl Moth – Erebus macrops
The Indian Owl Moth is named based on the large yellow ringed eyespots on lower side of their wings. When their wings are spread the moth resembles the head of an owl; this visual trick is used to escape from predators.
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Krulwich Wonders About The Little Things
Click above to go to the post where this video is hosted:
Every year, thousands of college graduates pour into big cities, find themselves a fun place to live in a cool neighborhood, great location, friends all around. But then, their luck turns, they run short of money, lose their first job, their second job, lose their lease, and then, step by step, find themselves in places that are less safe, less airy, less and less livable, until they’re on the bad side of town in a scary, dank room … and life is grim. You know people like this?
Well, this is their mascot: an animal with a serious real estate problem. Continue reading
Atlas Moth – Attacus atlas
Photo Credit : Ramesh Kidangoor
The Western Ghats is one of the richest treasure troves of biodiversity on this planet, haven for moths, butterflies and other insects. Among the diverse species is the Atlas Moth, with the largest wing surface area in the world having a span reaching over 25 cm (10 in). Continue reading
Lemon Pansy Butterfly – Junonia lemonias
The Lemon Pansy Butterfly is among the many species commonly seen in and around the open forest and grass lands of the Periyar Tiger Reserve.
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Wild Periyar – Wild Honey
Periyar Tiger Reserve is a unique habitat where nearly 2000 different species of flowering plants exist, including 515 found nowhere else. Butterflies and other uncounted insects live and maintain this wilderness as a natural wonderland. Continue reading
Grey Pansy Butterfly- Junonia atlites
The impressive diversity of more than 150 butterfly species in Periyar underscores the crucial relationship between plants and animals. The Grey Pansy butterfly are one of the larger varieties found commonly in the reserve, usually near riversides and open grasslands. Continue reading
Wild Periyar – Common Castor Butterfly
The Periyar Tiger Reserve is famous for butterflies, in fact 144 species of butterflies have been identified in this region. The Common Castor (Ariadne merrione) is a frequently sighted example.
Southern Rustic Butterfly (Cupha erymanthis)
Southern Rustic Butterflies are commonly found in Periyar’s forest areas, flying up and down and resting in shadowy places. Their wings are dark brown and yellow. Continue reading
Zombie Architecture & Rainforest Creatures
In the New York Times, the great science-explaining journalist Carl Zimmer writes about a mystery most of us would never otherwise encounter:
In the rain forests of Costa Rica lives Anelosimus octavius, a species of spider that sometimes displays a strange and ghoulish habit.
From time to time these spiders abandon their own web and build a radically different one, a home not for the spider but for a parasitic wasp that has been living inside it. Then the spider dies — a zombie architect, its brain hijacked by its parasitic invader — and out of its body crawls the wasp’s larva, which has been growing inside it all this time. Continue reading
Common Palmfly (Elymnias hypermenstra)
Common Palmfly is one of the frequently seen butterflies throughout Kerala. Coconut, Areca Nut and other ornamental palms are the main food plant for this species.
Blue Tiger Butterfly (Tirumala limniace)
Photo credits: Amie Inman
The Blue Tiger is one of the butterflies found commonly throughout most of India, both in the hills and in the plains. These butterflies are frequent visitors to gardens and the Pink Cockscomb (Ageratum conyzoides) is its favorite flower. Continue reading
Wild Periyar – Mud Puddling (Butterflies)
Common Blue Bottle; Graphium sarpedon
Mud puddling is a social insect activity usually involving newly hatched males where several butterflies of one or more species gather on moist banks of sand or mud. Mud puddling butterflies often spend a long time on these damp patches, where they suck salts along with water to obtain nutrients. Continue reading
Wild Periyar – Giant Wood Spider (Nephila pilipes)
Photo Credits: Khullood Daryanani
Giant Wood Spiders are commonly seen in the Periyar Tiger Reserve. These spiders are the largest orb weavers of India with a web diameter ranging between 3 to 4 meters. Females are larger than males and these spiders are the biggest spiders in the world.
Organikos 